Monday, June 26, 2006

I feel like a bad parent

I'm back from my trip. More on that later. Had a bit of a crisis last night. Pablo's tank overturned on my way home from picking him up at Mom's. Everything appears to be OK now. But it really freaked me out. It was like a nightmare.

I stopped the car in the middle of the road. Almost all the water had spilled out of the tank. I was hoping Pablo hadn't fallen out, but I didn't see him inside. Then I saw him in the floorboard. He flopped. I didn't know what to do. Would it hurt him if I touched him? I had no idea.

He flopped again. I saw a small piece of paper in the passenger's seat and gently slipped it underneath him. I put him back in the tank. There was barely enough water for him to sit in until we got home. He couldn't swim anywhere.

When I got home, I transferred him over to a bowl. I examined his tank and there was a small crack in the very top of it, but it was above the water line. So I cleaned out his tank and put fresh water in it. I dropped a food pellet into the bowl and he ate it, so I figured that was a good sign.

I was very worried all night. Still am. Pablo acted scared of me. He was staying away from me. Usually when I come near his tank, he swims over to me. But last night, he was swimming away. He was also resting a lot, being very still mostly just lying at the bottom of his tank.

This morning when I got out of the shower, he was darting around a bit like he usually does. I fed him three pellets and he ate them. Then I came home at lunch to check on him. He was swimming around a bit. I think fish have short memories. I hope.

He's still sleeping a lot this afternoon. Maybe he's resting from all the excitement. Or maybe he didn't get any rest being in a new atmosphere over the weekend. Or maybe he's injured. I don't know.

I don't know what I would do if something happened. He livens up this otherwise lonely place. Seeing my little friend lying on the floorboard flopping around yesterday was about the saddest sight I can think of.

18 comments:

I think all parents freak out the first time something happens their kids...the same thing happened to my mom when the opposite happened to me. I fell in the pool when I was 18 months old. She and I survived both it

I have every faith that Pable will be fine... I think its a really good sign that he eating.

Oh- I laughed and laughed at this! You are such a sweetie! :)Ok- for real- when my beautiful, precious, golden haired, blue-eyed, bundle of love and kisses was 10 months old- and scooting everywhere- I proped him up on the bed- 10 feet from me- so I could get ready and keep an eye on hime. We had done this many times before. I put pillows all around him- as if this could stop super baby- but I did it nonetheless.He was never out of my sight- until he went head first over the edge of the bed! "AAAGGGGHHHHH! I screamed! He landed on the soft comforter- which was on top of the carpet with ample padding- he was fine, but I felt like the worst Mom EVER! I journaled about it in his baby book/journal! I cried...more than he did. I couldn't believe what a moron I was.Oh- I can laugh about it now. I love him- no real harm has ever come to that child- not under my care. I hope Pablo will recover completely...and you too. Fish have really tiny brains- the matter is forgotten I am sure :)

Your fish is sounds like a very strong and brave fish. Is he a beta? They are fighter fish so he'll be fine. It doesn't hurt them when you touch them. When I had my fish, Russell, I always grabbed him with my hand to transport him to another bowl when cleaning his tank.

And fish have only 3 second memories so he's long forgotten about it by now.

Bettas are supposed to be practically indestructable. I'm sure that he'll be fine...especially since you've said he's already perking up.

Transporting stuff in the car is tough. I usually use my car's seats to smush stuff so it stands straight up and won't move...ie dog crate, computer, rabbit carrier, etc. My passenger's seat gets moved all the time and I can reach the control from the back seat.

Oh poor Bone! I've had a pet crisis in the car before, and it's quite stressful. I think that the fact that he's not floating upside down in the tank is a good sign. I don't think you killed him. Maybe he just missed you, and he's mad at you for leaving him. (that's what my cat does, anyway).

And I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but you weren't the only guy that commented on that post. :)

We had to move Carlotta's fish when we moved to MO. That was 5 hours in a car. And they were goldfish. You know, the red-shirt ensign(expendable crew member) of fish. Luckily they made it ok, but suffered a traumatic blow with the addition of the ghost shrimp. Carlotta was devastated. We let her know that Grandpa was a fisherman and had caught all the fish up there, so we were sending him to heaven so Grandpa would have something to do.

When Carlotta was 8 days old, I was in the mall with my family who had come to visit. I was horrified to learn as I peeked in at her that she had spit up and rolled in it. I hadn't seen it. I definitely had the "biffing it as a parent" thoughts.

The Pabloinator will be fine, but I recommend getting a weekend feeder so he can stay home next time.

Whew! I hope he's going to be OK! We've had a couple of scares with Dean and Jerry...they like to flop out of their temporary bowls while we're cleaning their regular bowls. Almost lost Jerry down the disposal once. I was afraid I'd injured him when I grabbed him to save him going down the drain.

Fish have short memories. I am sure he was a lil shaken up but will be fine very soon. We had a gold fish once that got toilet bowl cleaner poured in his tank. I quickly grabbed him out and put him different water till I got his tank all done. He lived 3 years after that. Everytime I see a goldfish I think of Barney. :)Hugs to you and Pablo.

Oh Bone, what a sweet post about your fishy. Having never had fish in my life (i'm the cat expert, though I screwed up predicting the sex of one kitten but I usually get it correct) I will have to rely on you for what would be considered normal fish behavior. I hope he'll be just fine.